James Gurney

This daily weblog by Dinotopia creator James Gurney is for illustrators, plein-air painters, sketchers, comic artists, animators, art students, and writers. You'll find practical studio tips, insights into the making of the Dinotopia books, and first-hand reports from art schools and museums.

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Imaginative Realism

Dinotopia: The World Beneath

"A ravishing, action-packed adventure." —Smithsonian. Now with 32 extra behind-the-scenes pages. Signed by the author/illustrator

Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara

160 pages, fully illustrated in color. Written and illustrated by James Gurney. Signed by the author

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Writing GurneyJourney takes dozens of hours each month. If you get as much out of this blog as you get from a cup of coffee or a nice meal out, please consider contributing to my citizen journalism in the visual arts.

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or by email:gurneyjourney (at) gmail.comSorry, I can't give personal art advice or portfolio reviews. If you can, it's best to ask art questions in the blog comments.

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All images and text are copyright 2015 James Gurney and/or their respective owners. Dinotopia is a registered trademark of James Gurney. For use of text or images in traditional print media or for any commercial licensing rights, please email me for permission.

However, you can quote images or text without asking permission on your educational or non-commercial blog, website, or Facebook page as long as you give me credit and provide a link back. Students and teachers can also quote images or text for their non-commercial school activity. It's also OK to do an artistic copy of my paintings as a study exercise without asking permission.

8 comments:

I like that they gave you a nod mentioning "Dinotopia". I also like the design but I would worry that it would be buffeted by cross winds. I have always wished that someone would bring back passenger blimps. It would be an amazing way to travel across country. For those people who would like to enjoy the trip as much as the destination, I feel it would be very successful. And as far as the Hindenburg I think it could be built much safer today.

If a green economy (Obama's "Green Jobs") need to be boosted, and if this current crisis creates an opportunity to do so, realistic projects with current technology are the way to go. And I think that with a bit of creativity, they can go farther than we can imagine.

But I'm not talking about this airship.Dreamy designs may wetten appetite, but if they are far from realistic, they may also keep alive the idea that a green future is utopian, or as the other site put it: "...out of Dinotopia."

Well, seems like a new english expresion can be added to James Gurney's legacy.But what does 'out of Dinotopia' stand for?'Bright future' or...'unrealistic'?

This reminds me of an old memory. Back in my Art Center days I took on a job house sitting Paul MacCready's home and kids. He was the inventor of the Gossamer Condor, the bicycle powered airplane that crossed the English Channel ( Or was that the Gossamer Albatross? ) . Anyway, quite the brainiac he was. And his kids were like little geniuses.....

In the late 70's I was involved with Paul MacCready's class at ACCD in working on trial models of the Gossamer Albatross. Great fun to be a part of such an endeavor.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gossamer_Albatross

haha, just read the last commenthe had a lot of us in the ENV dept take part

Hi, Robin and Frank...You are so lucky! I'm a big fan of Mr. MacCready, not just his human powered aircraft but his radio controlled pterosaur. I didn't know he had a class at Art Center.

Erik, I'm not sure what they meant by "Dinotopian." Maybe some combination of impractical and pre-industrial. The pedal-powered sky galleys in the original Dinotopia book didn't work too well, even in Dinotopia.